The evolving role of women in American history Many people "...thought that women's talent and energy...would be better used in the new republic." (Clinton 3) Clearly showing that society saw the importance of women's talents and that their skills can be very useful, it exploited this and therefore the change in the role of women was inevitable. Society has understood that the role of women plays an important role in all walks of life. To understand the significant change in the role of women is to understand its roots. Traditionally, women in colonial America were limited in the roles they played or limited in their "spheres of influence." In the past, women were seen as only needing to have and care for children. Their only role was domestic; related to activities such as cooking and cleaning. A married woman shares her husband's status and often lives with his family. The woman was denied any legal control over her property, land, money or even her own children after a divorce. In a sense, she belonged to her husband after marriage. She "...was a legal incompetent, as were children, idiots and criminals under English law. As a secret woman, she was stripped of all her possessions; once married, the clothes she she carried, her personal possessions - be they precious, changeable". or simply sentimental - and even her body became that of her husband, to direct, manage and use it. Once a child was born to the couple, their land also came under their control. (Berkin 14) “The majority of…women in the colonies…lived in rural, agricultural settings. » (Berkin, 139) Their daily life ...... middle of paper ......tedBender, David L. The Women's Rights Movement, Opposing Viewpoints: Greenhaven Press, Inc., San Diego 1996Berkin , Carol. First Generations, Women in Colonial America: Hill and Wang, New York 1992 Clinton, Catherine. The Other Civil War, American Women in the Nineteenth Century: Hill and Wang, New York 1986 Kaledin, Eugenia. American Women in the 1950s, Mothers and More: Twayne Publishers, Boston 1984Kaufman, Debra R. and Richardson, Barbara L. Achievements and Women, Challenging Assumptions: The Free Press, New York 1982Rappaport, Doreen. American women, their lives in their: Thomas Y. Crowell, New York 1990Smith, Carter. Daily Life, A Sourcebook on Colonial America: The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Connecticut 1991Zeinert, Karen. These Incredible Women of World War II: The Millbrook Press, Brookfield, Connecticut 1994